@GW_SAAC Wins Third Annual Atlantic 10 SAAC Video Competition

@GW_SAAC Entry for 'Evolution of the Student-Athlete' Claims Most Fan Votes, Top Honors

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - The Atlantic 10 Conference has named George Washington the winner of the 2013 Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) "Evolution of the Student-Athlete" Video Competition, the league announced Wednesday. George Washington's video submission garnered almost 3,000 votes in the week long online poll.

GW's submission highlighted the journey of its diverse community of student-athletes, explained in its video, "At GW, we start out as individual athletes, and evolve into one community, where in school, athletics and life, we strive to Raise High the Buff & Blue," a campus-wide slogan for the Colonials.

"We hoped to use as many athletes as possible from a variety of teams to convey what a unique experience it can be to grow as a student-athlete here at GW and how unified our athletic department has become," said Stern. "Through the experiences we have together and the amazing city we live in, we are able to bring people from different backgrounds and from all over the world together to form a common goal - that we will always "Raise High" in everything we do."

"This "community" was evident when we saw the overwhelming support for the video! We want to thank everyone for that!" added Stern. "The student-athletes really are the ones who should be congratulated. Without that drive and determination to succeed on-and-off the field, there would've been no content for a video. At the end of the day, once they showed the camera the amazing things they do every day, the video made itself."

The annual competition's winner is determined by two equally weighted components: the online fan vote and voting conducted by each institution's campus SAAC organization. Each SAAC has the opportunity to rank its top three videos, which are then assigned a weighted point value (1st - 3 points, 2nd - 2 points, 3rd - 1 point). The Colonials (2,933 fan votes) edged out VCU (2,797) in the fan vote by just 136 votes, and also earned the second-most campus SAAC points, including three 1st-place and five 2nd-place votes.

"One of the best things about our league is that the student-athletes understand that their time on campus is about much more than just achieving success in their respective sports," stated Atlantic 10 Commissioner Bernadette V. McGlade. "Their continuous evolution spans across the classroom, their campus and their community. While GW won this year's competition, it is clear that all of the student-athletes are proud of their journey."

The theme of this year's contest, "Evolution of a Student-Athlete," was chosen by the Atlantic 10 Conference SAAC and provided a broad spectrum for each campus to express what their journey and evolution as a student-athlete has meant to them.

Aside from the theme, student-athletes were restricted only by suggested time parameters and the requirement that all videos must be student-produced (no staff-created submissions would be accepted). This year, 13 of 16 Atlantic 10 SAACs submitted a video, the most entries in the three-year history of the competition.